Of all the different types of wildlife inhabiting Deerfield, my favorite is the red-tailed hawk. I shot this photo yesterday around noon from our front porch.
Most of the time when I bush-hog, I see the hawks circling in the sky keeping an eye on a fresh snack that may scurry away from the tractor. I like to hear a hawk cry after it has made a kill. The cry sounds both gleeful and mournful at the same time, just like the tune "Ashokan Farewell."
A red-tail hawk weighs around three pounds. Hawks mate for life with both sexes incubating the eggs and feeding their young.
Our family often made a game of seeing who could count the most hawks sitting on trees or wires along the interstate. Many a time I have stopped the car to try to take a photo of a hawk, but as soon as the car door opens the hawk takes off.
Deerfield hawks seem a little more congenial, almost like they don't mind me living on the land they oversee.
WEATHER UPDATE: For once, I'm in sync with the weather prognosticators. A gentle rain started about 5 a.m. today, starting the process of germinating the grass seed I planted on Wednesday and Thursday. Two more days of steady rain and we are off and running.
Wow! Great photo, Pop!
ReplyDelete